Not Applicable.
1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to games that include edible pieces, and more particularly, but not necessarily entirely, to a game using a checkerboard box and confectionary pieces.
2. Description of Related Art
It has been well known in the prior art to include a game as a promotional item with foodstuffs, such as cereal, drinks, candy or cookies. One example of such promotional game is found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,542,678 (issued Aug. 6, 1996 to Woodbridge). Such promotional games have been incorporated into the packaging of candy confections, as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,733,863 (issued Mar. 29, 1988 to Novotny) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,988,110 (issued Jan. 29, 1991 to Zuckerman et al.), each of which is incorporated by reference, herein in its entirety. However, most of these games have playing boards that are separate pieces, or require the package to be completely disassembled to be used. Additionally, these games all feature separate pieces included with the foodstuff, or use candy confections as the game pieces.
It is noteworthy that none of the prior art known to applicant provides a game where the playing board is not either separate from the packaging or requires disassembly of the packaging to use, and the playing pieces consist of foodstuff other than candy. Further, the candy pieces used in these known games are merely taken directly from the packaging and then are directly touched as they are handled by those playing the game. This allows the candy to come into contact with whatever may be in the environment where the game is played, and to be extensively handled in multiple games before it is consumed.
The prior art is thus characterized by several disadvantages that are addressed by the present invention. The present invention minimizes, and in some aspects eliminates, the above-mentioned failures, and other problems, by utilizing the methods and structural features described herein.